Fixing Rex
by CheyanneChika
Summary: Jack is trying to help Rex stop being immortal, before he drives Jack insane. Unable to contact the Doctor himself, he seeks out River Song, not knowing why she and the Doctor are connected. River/Eleven established, Jack/Ianto past. Post Sixth Series. Finally COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.**

**This is the product of A: my boredom, B: the fact that I'm stalled on my Yaoi fics and C: my **_**Doctor Who**_** and **_**Torchwood**_** withdrawal. Oh and D: My friend Tony and I were chatting about if Rex could ever be fixed and that sparked the idea so kudos goes to him.**

**Warnings: Uhh…spoilers through Miracle Day and The Wedding of River Song, I guess.**

**Um, also, I know it's called, Fixing Rex, but it's much more Jack/11 centric, but not slash since I'm a major hold out for Janto. Of course there will be MM and MF flirting hence the T rating.**

**Chapter One**

"Jack, are you ever going to come back to the UK?" Gwen asked over the phone she had jammed between her cheek and shoulder while she rocked Anwen.

"I'm going to be here either until Rex is willing come to Europe or until he agrees to keep his mouth shut about the whole immortal thing." Jack looked at Rex who was watching TV in the living room of his apartment from where he stood on the balcony. Jack was staying there, sleeping on the couch…under the threat of being shot and buried under cement if he even approached the bedroom while Rex was sleeping.

"I don't suppose he can be fixed?"

"It's been a month with no change. I don't know how to fix it."

"What about the Doctor?"

Jack hesitated. He would be lying if the thought hadn't crossed his mind honestly, he didn't know if the Doctor would be able to fix Rex, nor did he think the Doctor would appreciate being dragged to a place with _two_ living, breathing fixed points in the same spot. He might start spouting about ripping holes in the time space continuum.

"Jack?"

"I don't know. If I had a way to contact him…"

"What about his cell phone?"

"He's changed his number, I think. In any case, I already tried that."

"Well, I actually might have something."

Jack straightened, his eyes getting wide. "What do you mean?"

"Look, I may have…sort of been poking about, looking for the Doctor."

"Why?"

"Oh, I wonder…not because Rex has called me half a dozen times either begging me to drag you back to Wales or to tell him what you've done to him which, incidentally," she added without missing a beat, "I still know nothing about."

"I told you, it's—"

"Complicated, I know. That's what I told Rex." She cooed softly. "Jack, I need to change Anwen. Can we talk later?"

"No, wait, you said you had something for me."

"Oh, yeah, A name kept cropping up. River Song. Not even sure it's a name. Might be a code or a nickname or just two words that happen to flow togeth—"

"It's a name," Jack said solemnly.

"You know it?" Anwen started to squall and Gwen quickly added, "Jack I've gotta go but tell me what you know next time you call."

Jack forced a smile. "Yeah, kiss Rhys for me."

"Idiot," she replied before carefully maneuvering the baby so she could grip the phone and press end.

Jack did the same in LA and stared out and the skyscraper filled view. He knew the name River Song. Every Time Agent knew that name. She was the most notorious escapee from the Storm Cage Facility. In fact, she was the only one to ever escape it. And yet, her crime was fairly unknown, which was strange because it had to be pretty awful to warrant the Storm Cage but not awful enough to merit full time watch detail.

He did know she was there for murder though. But who? And how was she tied up with the Doctor? Perhaps he should pay her a visit. The problem was…he turned back to look at Rex. How to get him to either button it and stay hidden or come along.

Assuming he could get his vortex manipulator back online. Shouldn't be too hard. It was four and nine, right? "Hey, Rex, got a proposition for ya."

…

"I can't believe you talked me into this," Rex said darkly. "'Hey, Rex, I got an idea on how to fix you.' 'Oh yeah? What?' 'We're gonna go see a girl about a doctor.' Not once did you say anything about jumping through time and space to talk to someone in _prison_." They were walking down a long, dimly lit corridor, following a guard to River Song's cell.

"Oh shut up, will you?" Jack was tired of Rex's whining, something that had dramatically increased since he had become immortal.

"But if she's in prison, how can she help me?"

"Dr. River Song, archeologist, arrested for murder. She escapes from this facility on a regular basis but is always returning within hours of her escape."

"Why would she do that?"

"I don't know. What's more important," he added, raising his voice so the guard ahead of them could hear him, "is that she somehow manipulates the guards long enough to escape on a regular basis."

The guard, an unattractive man that Jack had no problem not hitting on, winced and tightened his grip on the gun.

"Anyway, Gwen did some digging and her name is tied up with the Doctor's. I'm hoping she'll be able to lead me to him."

"And how does this help me?"

"Look, if anyone can help you, it's the Doctor."

"And if he can't?"

"Then you're stuck like me permanently!" Jack finally snapped. "How much further?"

"None. Song! You've got visitors."

"Ooh, visitors, plural," River's seductive voice filled the air before she approached the bars. The smile dropped off her face as she saw two strangers. It back half a second later. "Two handsome men come to me? I'm flattered. Shall I get my coat?"

"We aren't here to help you escape. We need information."

River pouted. "You're no fun. You haven't even told me your name."

"Captain Jack Harkness," Jack said. "He's Special Agent Rex Matheson, CIA."

"Ooh, a Special Agent and a Captain. This is getting better and better." She laughed. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for the Doctor."

She cocked her head to the side slightly. "Don't you know? The Doctor's dead."

Jack's eyes went wide with horror.

**To be continued…**

**Yes, yes, yes, I know he's not dead and River knows he's not dead but I do get a kick out of watching Jack suffer miserably. Anyway, please review and I'll give you a cookie.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: If I owned Torchwood, Ianto would still be alive and if I owned Doctor Who then the Doctor would have gotten laid by now.**

**For those of you who I didn't reply to that needed a reply:**

**windpoetry: Spoilers… Although, if you want to write a story like that, it's different enough from mine that I wouldn't balk.**

**Now, then, here's Chapter Two**

"That's not possible," Jack whispered.

"I'm sorry to tell you it is." She sounded regretful.

"How?" Jack was on the verge of hysteria, a quiet rage that threatened to burst.

Now she really looked perplexed. "Why are you here if you don't know?"

"Uh, your name came up when my friend was looking for him."

"Hmph, makes sense I suppose. I did kill him after all." At Jack's stunned expression, she added, "Who did you think I killed to end up in Storm Cage?" She laughed dryly. "They don't just lock up normal criminals."

Jack had his Webley Revolver out and pointed at the woman so fast that even Rex was impressed. "Why?" he rasped.

She smiled slightly, adding to the whole insanity of this conversation. "It's what I was trained to do."

"Trained?"

"From birth. I was born to kill the doctor."

"You were right Jack, this was a great idea. Now your friend's dead and I'm still stuck like this," Rex muttered, sounding annoyed.

"Stuck like what?" River asked. Her eyes danced over him, analyzingly.

"He's sick," Jack interjected when Rex opened his mouth. Her pretty eyes flicked back to his.

Then she shifted her head away though her eyes never left his face. "You do know he's not a regular doctor."

"And this isn't a regular disease," Rex growled.

"C'mon," Jack said before Rex could go on. He looked at the guard, pocketing his Webley again, mildly surprised that the guard hadn't reacted to his pulling it in the first place. "We're done here." He spun on his heel, the greatcoat flapping around his calves and walked off quickly.

"Hey wait up!" Rex tore after him. He glanced once over his shoulder at River whose eyes were touched with sadness now that Jack wasn't looking. Then he turned back and followed Jack back the way they'd come. Two corridors later and almost to the front lobby, they past several guards surrounding a man in his late twenties with floppy brown hair and a handsome face that would have had Jack asking for his number had he not just received the worst news of his life.

He was talking nonsensically at the guards, something about ponds and their daughter river. Jack paused and looked at them at the word river.

"She's already done it, what's the point of all this?"

"Precaution, sir."

"Yeah but, come on. It's me."

"Exactly." The guard speaking was older than the others and Jack surmised this man must be in charge.

"Hey World War Two," Rex called, "We goin' or what?"

The man surrounded by guards looked at him and stared with solemn, green eyes. Then he grinned and waved before turning back.

"Ye-yeah," Jack murmured slightly dazed. He turned back and followed the CIA agent.

…

The Doctor wondered if that Jack was the immortal one or the one before they'd ever met. Of course, if it was before they met, what would he be doing with that coat? Not that it mattered, Jack clearly hadn't recognized him.

That was for the best. But it did pose the question, what was he doing at Storm Cage? His thoughts pondered at it while he and the platoon of guards who were there for "his protection" walked towards River's cell. The lead guard, Methus Piranon, was in charge of Storm Cage and one of the few people who knew of the Doctor's continued existence. He was the one the Doctor had very nearly pleaded with to make sure River was imprisoned and not executed for his murder.

"I'm still not sure why you are here," Methus said for perhaps the fourth time. "Doesn't she usually come to you?"

"Well yes, but like I said earlier…there's something different happening today. Many different happenings." The last was muttered softly as he cast a glance back toward the retreating Jack, now out of sight.

River must have heard his voice because she called from the next hallway, "So many visitors in so little time. I must be getting popular."

A large smile spread across the Doctor's lips and he called, "Visitors? What other visitors?" He dipped and weaved around the guards before him and broke into a run as they rounded the corner and entered the hall in which she resided.

"Two strapping young fellows. They were looking for you actually." She pushed her face gently through the bars. "Hello, sweetie."

"Hello, River." She puckered her lips, expecting a kiss and pouted when all she heard was the buzz of his sonic screwdriver.

As the door popped open she said, "The guards are almost here."

The Doctor didn't bother to glance back at the guards that were hot on his heels. He just stepped in and crossed to the opposite side. Then he leaned casually against nothing.

"Is that where I put that old thing?" River asked.

"Well, it's certainly not where I left her." The Doctor grinned and snapped his fingers. The TARDIS materialized, its doors swinging inward. "Shall we?"

River smiled too and stepped inside as the first guard reached the cell door. The Doctor reached back quickly and pressed the sonic's button. The cell door slammed shut and locked in the young guard's face. He rattled it and pointed his gun but the Doctor didn't notice as he swept inside his ship and pushed the doors closed.

He stepped up to the console only to find his wife blocking the way. "What?"

"You know exactly what, sweetie."

"Ah yes." He kissed her softly. The moment he pulled back, she reached up and pulled him back by his bowtie. Their lips locked passionately for just a few more moments before they were interrupted by a stiff hammering on the TARDIS door. "Shall we?" he asked breathily when they broke apart.

"Yes. You know where we're going?"

"No, do you?"

"Earth 2011."

The Doctor hissed. "That's a bit of a rough year for me. And Earth." And Jack. But then, maybe that's what she was going for. "Those visitors you had…"

"Yes?" She turned away and began pressing buttons and toggling toggles.

"Did you know them?" He moved around the console so he could see her face.

She looked up at him. "Why would you ask that?"

He straightened, eyes turning suspicious. "Coincidences."

"Now those are nearly as bad as spoilers." She grinned. "Now, I was thinking of this lovely city I heard about in America called Los Angeles. The city of angels. Let's go there."

"Not a coincidence then," the Doctor muttered under his breath.

"Did you say something?" she asked.

"Nope. Let's go."

…

Jack and Rex were standing the lobby, the only part of the building that didn't cancel out vortex manipulator wrist straps, and Jack was beginning the programming to go back to Earth when he stiffened.

"What is it?" Rex asked.

Jack spun, hearing the faint whooshing sound that was quickly drowned out by a suddenly wailing klaxon. All of the guards tightened their grips on their weapons. "What's going on?" Jack yelled.

"Prisoner escape!" called a guard.

Jack didn't wait for anything else. He just bolted back towards River's cell. He arrived only to find it empty and surrounded by guards trying to get it open.

**To be continued…**

**Okay, so I'm not going to torture him all that much but I am going to drag this out for another chapter or so.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and please please please review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Brain dead termites know I don't own Doctor Who or Torchwood, you should too.**

**And thanks for the couple of reviews. I am hoping for a few more though. *hopeful looking***

**Chapter Three**

"Where'd she go?" Rex asked, panting slightly as he caught up to Jack.

"I don't—she's just gone." Jack pushed a couple of guards out of the way and looked at the door. It had been sealed by a sonic device. The door had been fused to its metal frame.

"What are you doing?" the oldest of the guards demanded of Jack.

Jack turned to look and recognized him as one of the guards walking with the smiling man just minutes before. "Where did she go?"

"I'm in charge here," he blustered. "I'll ask the questions."

Jack showed him the vortex manipulator that marked him a Time Agent and trumped any sort of power this guard had in the fifty-first century. "Where did she go?"

The guard looked irritated. "Who knows? She'll be back."

"Where's the man you were with earlier?"

"With her, of course. We're supposed to keep them apart for his safety." The next words were muttered. "Not that he gives a damn about his own life."

"You're saying he got her out?"

The guard was silent, which was answer enough.

"Harkness, what the hell is going on?" Rex snapped.

"Nothing, let's go." Jack start walking back to the lobby yet again. Rex looked at the guards and threw up his hands in defeat.

In the lobby, Jack finished the wrist band's programming and locked arms with Rex—much to the man's distaste—before he pressed the last button and they disappeared.

Both of them doubled over as pain wrenched at their stomachs the way it had when they'd teleported out of LA. Now they stood in an alley that divided Rex's apartment building and the one next to it. It was near sunset, the same day they'd left and amber light ghosted over them and the shadows.

Rex broke away, staggering. "Never, ever do that again," he gasped out.

"Yeah well, it's only meant for one." He straightened up, cracking his back. Then he sighed. "Besides, it could be worse."

"Oh yeah? How?"

"There could be three of us." He laughed sharply. "Whew, that time was awful."

"Urgh." Rex groaned. "if…you know it's bad with two…then why do three?"

"It wasn't my idea. We were stranded and the Doctor rigged my wrist band to carry three."

"The Doctor again…he another one of your boyfriends?"

Jack snorted humorlessly. "I wish." Jack looked suddenly exhausted. "At least I did."

"Not anymore?"

"No." The word was final. The end of the discussion. He wasn't about to talk about Ianto with Rex. Trying to explain how he was still in love with a dead man and managing to maintain his playboy-esque appearance to a mildly homophobic CIA agent was not exactly something he'd savor. "Come on, I'm tired." Jack left the alley with Rex following.

...

"That's them," River murmured as she and the Doctor watched the men leave the alley from the monitors in the cloaked TARDIS. She spun to look into her husband's green eyes. "So," she leaned back against the console, "how do you know them?"

"I don't know them."

"Well they know you."

"I meant as in plural. I know the captain. I don't know the other."

"Well, the captain said his name was Rex Matheson and that he was sick."

The Doctor's lips tightened. "And they thought I could help?"

"Yes. So why would they think that?" River asked with a small smile.

"I would have to know what's wrong with him first." The Doctor looked at the men's retreating backs. He tugged his lip, thinking hard. He'd felt something off but he'd chalked it up to Jack's presence. But maybe there was something more.

"Well let's ask!" She interrupted his thoughts, pushing herself off the console and starting for the doors. She halted when the Doctor caught her wrist and turned her back.

"Must you always run about so very fast?"

River grinned. "I learned from the best." The smile dropped from her lips when he didn't react. "You know, he seemed genuinely upset when he found out I killed you."

"Well yeah," the Doctor straightened his bowtie, "people like me."

"Doctor, how do you know him?"

"Right." He suddenly spun away from her and back to the controls. "Amy and Rory are probably bored out of their little, Leadworth filled minds. Why don't I just drop you off with them and I'll handle Jack and—" He stopped when River put a hand on his.

"Doctor, what happened with you two?"

The Doctor licked his lips. "I abandoned him. Sometimes I do forget to keep in touch with people after they leave the TARDIS. Even after that he thought that if he needed me when things got desperate then I would be there. And I was twice. And then I wasn't. And people died. And then I wasn't again and a lot of people died." River's eyes were wide with surprise. The doctor always seemed to save the day. "If he's looking for me, he must be really desperate." He paused, running a hand through his hair. "Or he wants to punch me. He said his friend was sick?"

"Uh," River shook her head at the sudden subject change, "yeah. But he didn't look very sick. He also said it wasn't a typical disease."

"Hmm." The Doctor's eyes drifted, deep in thought.

"You know what?" River said suddenly. "I think we need to get something to eat. You need some time to think and I'm starving. But then we talk to your friend."

"And if I get punched?"

River smiled. "I'll defend your honor of course."

"How?"

The smile widened. "By laughing my head off." She started for the doors again.

"You little…"

"Oh you love it," she said before he could think of something suitable.

**To be continued…**

**Okay, that chapter was pretty fun to write. I love writing dialogue, so much easier than action sequences.**

**Anyway, please review and I'll give you cookies. And thanks for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: And yet, I still don't own anything.**

**Chapter Four**

"So," River began as she sipped wine from a long stemmed glass. They were seated in a high end restaurant after a brief stop at an ATM where River had borrowed the Doctor's sonic screwdriver and had money spilling out before he could say anything. She was still getting a kick out of the disapproval written all over his face. "Tell me about Captain Jack Harkness."

"I thought I already did that."

"You only said the bad stuff. How about something fun. There must have been a moment or two. Oh, like how you met. That must have been interesting."

"He was trying to con us into buying space junk that wasn't space junk at all. It was a Chula medical warship filled with nanogenes that tried to recreate the human race using the template of a dead six year old with a gas masked strapped to his face in the middle of World War Two."

River sighed. "You make it sound so dull when ya put it like that. Though that explains the coat. Very Earth retro. Who's 'us' by the way?"

"Me and a friend."

"Which friend?" she pushed.

"You don't know her." The doctor was turning evasive.

"Oh." She stretched out the word. "So it's an old girlfriend."

The Doctor rolled his eyes and said nothing.

She seemed to realize she'd pushed too hard and changed the subject. "Fine, how about a different story."

"He tells them better than I do," he muttered.

"Perhaps I'll ask him then." From under the table, she produced a cell phone.

"Oi, that's mine!" the Doctor cried.

"I know." She flipped it open and sifted hastily through the contacts. "And look at that, Captain Jack Harkness. Right after Amelia Pond." She chuckled dryly. "I wonder how I should react to you having my mother first on your contacts list." The paused and smirked. "Followed by a man."

"It's in alphabetical order," he growled, looking thoroughly annoyed. He held out his hand stiffly and said, "You're ahead of Rory so give."

"Say please."

The Doctor looked exasperated. "Give please."

"Mmm, no." Then she pressed send.

…

Jack looked curiously at the Restricted Number on his phone for a moment before he answered. "Harkness."

"That actually worked," a female voice that sounded heart wrenchingly familiar said. "Hello, Captain."

"Who is this?" Jack demanded.

He needn't have bothered because the moment he stopped speaking, a male voice with a British accent snapped, "River, give me the phone."

"Sweetie, don't you know these things are bad for you. They'll stunt your growth." Over an outraged sputter, she addressed Jack again. "If you haven't figured it out already, I'm not going to say more."

And then he knew. "What do you want, Miss Song."

"That's Dr. Song, thank you very much." She managed to sound testy despite the fact that she was grinning from ear to ear over the Doctor's torment.

"What do you want?"

"We're at a lovely restaurant about six blocks from where you teleported in. Leonardo's, do you know it?

"I know it." Stiff, straight to the point.

"Oh good. Hurry along, they're expecting four of us." Then the phone abruptly disconnected.

"Uh, when exactly did this become a party of four?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh you should know better than anyone else that a girl never reveals her tricks."

"That's magicians."

River sipped her wine again. "Same principle."

He sighed and sipped his own Coke. He was never going to win against her so why did he even try?

…

Jack and Rex arrived at the restaurant inside of twenty minutes, both were dressed appropriately for the place so the Doctor suspected they had cheated and used Jack's vortex manipulator. He pursed his lips. He'd have to deactivate it again.

Rex was the first to notice them. He pointed for Jack. Jack looked and immediately recognized not only River but the pretty man in the bowtie from Storm Cage. He nodded to Rex's unasked question. He'd noticed him as well and, from this angle, River's back—bared by the light blue, backless dress—was to them so only he could see the pair until she turned, her curly hair spinning out as she did so. Her grin was visible even at a distance. Then she waved.

"Let's get this over with," Jack muttered, plastering a bright smile on his face.

"Yeah right," Rex muttered. Together they crossed the room to join River and her friend. Jack sat across from her while Rex took the seat adjacent, across from the other man.

"Captain Jack Harness and who are you?" he asked the man. His tone wasn't flirty, more demanding. He was tired of this little game and on edge, being so close to his best friend's murderer.

"He's my husband," River said.

"You sure know how to pick 'em," Jack said, looking him over more carefully. "A bit young, aren't you?"

"Now that's not nice. Besides, he's way older than I am."

Now Jack really did look. Despite the young face, his green eyes looked aged. Like they'd seen everything twice over and then some. He'd seen eyes like that before, twice, in fact. A huge smile split across his face. "Doctor," said and it wasn't a question.

"Hello again, captain."

Rex looked between this boy of a man and Harkness and River Song. A dozen questions demanded answers but he swallowed them for the moment.

"But, you, I…" he looked at River, "she said…"

"And it's true. According to history, River killed me."

"Why did she just say you were her husband?" Jack asked.

"Well," the Doctor looked away evasively, "we are sort of married."

Jack's eyes went wide. "Seriously? You married the woman who kills you."

"Killed, past tense. And you're hardly one to talk."

Jack thought back to the time he'd slept with the couple who were supposed to execute him and then there was Angelo who stuck him in the side, betrayed him then rescued him. He really had little ground to stand on here. Still, he shot back, "But I didn't marry them."

The Doctor shrugged. River looked smug.

"So you are the Doctor, the one that World War Two over there is always talking about?" Rex asked.

The Doctor looked at Jack for confirmation, then nodded. "And you're Rex Matheson, yes?"

Rex nodded.

"Who do you represent?" Rex looked questioning. "FBI, NSA, CIA, UNIT?" He looked at Jack. "I'd suggest Torchwood but you don't vibe the way they do."

"CIA," Rex said shortly.

"And you're sick? You don't look it."

"Yeah well—"

"He's like me, Doc."

**To be continued…**

**Duh duh duh dunnnnn**

**And the plot thickens. Please review and I'll be really happy:)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Nope, I still own none of this great stuff.**

**Chapter Five**

The Doctor swallowed audibly. Then he laughed. "That's not possible."

"Hate to break it to ya but it is," Rex replied, sounding tired.

The Doctor turned serious. "No, I mean it's literally impossible. Jack is a fluke and the product of desperation and the heart of the TARDIS, there's no other way."

"It happened because of the Miracle," Jack said.

"Regardless. How would that possibly work?"

Jack threw his arms out. "Look at me."

"You're an anomaly. Nothing short of uncontrollable human need mixed with vortex energy in a time machine could do that and it would need some sort of reason to do it. Like Rose's need to save us."

"Ah so it was Rose?" River asked. "And what did she do?"

"Since when have I talked to you about Rose?" he replied distractedly.

"You haven't…yet." She was smirking brightly.

"Ugh, never mind." He focused on Rex. The man shifted under the Doctor's gaze. He could sense it now, the subtle changes in Rex's genetic makeup. "How?" he asked finally.

"It's a long story."

…

"You know," River said, once the entire story of the Miracle had been told for her and the Doctor's benefits. Dinner had long since ended and Rex and River were both rather buzzed. "That explains how Rex here ended up the same way as Jack, using his blood and all but what I don't understand is what is it exactly that the two of you have?" Jack looked at the Doctor. Both of them had been deliberately skirting the exact nature of their situation. "I mean, I understand about the whole no one dying thing but does that mean you two will live through life threatening injuries but suffer for them for the rest of eternity?"

"Not exactly. See, how it works is I—we—can be killed any number of times and we'll wake up, completely healed in less than a minute."

River had never been so shocked save for the moment when she realized the man she was about to marry was actually standing, miniaturized, inside a robotic transport that looked exactly like him. "How the hell did ya manage that?"

Jack grinned. "Rose."

River turned to the Doctor, a false smile plastered on her face. "Do tell me about more about Rose."

"I thought you already knew everything."

"No one can ever know everything."

"She was in love with him," Jack put in much to the Doctor's annoyance.

She looked back to Jack, an eyebrow raised. "And he was..?"

"I'm right here."

Both ignored him. "Oh yeah, totally."

"Really? There, now, see? I didn't know that."

The Doctor looked defensive. "It was two hundred years ago. Perspective, please."

Jack stiffened. Rex did as well but then he looked shocked when Jack said, "Wait, you're eleven hundred now?"

"Give or take."

"Eleven hundred?!" Rex choked.

"Don't change the subject. What did Rose do to make you like this?"

Jack smirked at his oldest friend and said, "We were trapped on Satellite Five and a Dalek fleet was about to destroy us. Doc sent Rose home in the TARDIS so she wouldn't be killed with the rest of us. After I died, she returned having opened the TARDIS's console and absorbed the time vortex. She returned, saved him and destroyed the Daleks. Then she brought me back to life but she brought me back for forever. Nothing can kill me now."

"Or me, it seems," Rex muttered darkly.

"How did she manage to get into the console?"

"Her mum got an emergency truck. They hooked them together and ripped her open," the Doctor finally interjected. "Poor girl was pretty shaky for awhile after that."

"Uh, I think we're getting a bit off track here," Rex interrupted, sensing the building tension. "Doctor, can you fix this?"

The Doctor hesitated. "Fix it? No, well, I say no but I mean I don't know. Something I'm not accustomed to saying."

"So is this like what happened to dad?" River asked.

"Of course not. That was completely different. He was plastic. These two are—were—human."

"Are human," Jack growled.

"Right." The Doctor looked slightly uncomfortable. "Well…"

"We'll have to take him with us."

"To where?"

"To the TARDIS of course." River grinned and Jack stared. Not even Rose had been able to manipulate him the way she did.

"What's a TARDIS?" Rex asked.

"My ship," the Doctor replied.

"Ship? Like a space ship?"

"It travels in time too."

Rex's eyes widened. "You an alien?"

"Oh, very CIA," the Doctor scoffed.

Rex smirked. "But it's still true, ain't it?"

His lips worked for a moment before he nodded mutely.

"Wait," Jack interrupted, all these timelines were getting so confusing. "Why is your dad made of plastic?"

"He was killed, erased from time and brought back as a Nestene duplicate from Mummy's brilliant mind." River grinned.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Doc, how many companions have you got?"

"Right now, none. She's only part time."

"Why's that?"

"She's an archeologist."

Jack laughed.

Rex just shook his head. "How the hell am I supposed to follow all this?"

"You're not," the Doctor replied. "You're just along for the ride until things can get fixed."

"Yeah, so how are you gonna do that exactly?"

"I don't know." The Doctor was frowning slightly. "This has never happened before."

"So wait," River interrupted before the Doctor could get too lost in his own thoughts. "Is Rose a child of the TARDIS as well?"

"What? No. She retains no memory of the incident."

"What's a child of the TARDIS" Jack asked.

River grinned. "That would be a child conceived on the ship. Like me."

Jack stared at her for a moment and then looked at the Doctor. "What? Don't look at me. It's not like I was in the room. I was flying her. Amy and Rory were _supposed_ to be sleeping."

River laughed. "You were in the same ship that I was conceived in while I was conceived." She reached out and touched his cheek. "Sweetie, does that make you uncomfortable?"

The Doctor managed a very weak shrug and she laughed again.

"Okay, this is too much." Rex was done. He got to his feet. "Let me know when you want to help me. Til then, please feel free to banter until you get it out of your system." He started to walk away.

"You can put up all the bravado you want, you still need my help." The Doctor looked a bit grim as he spoke and Rex paused. "Besides, the banter isn't going anywhere."

"Yeah, we're always like this," River put in.

"Well, when it gets helpful or even starts making sense, call me." Then he left.

**To be continued…**

**Thanks for reading everyone and please review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own nothing.**

**Chapter Six**

"Doctor, is it even possible?" Jack asked.

"I honestly don't know. You're a fixed point because the time vortex was swayed to the will of a nineteen year old girl."

"Oh, she was nineteen?" River asked sarcastically. Apparently he had only briefly mentioned Rose and she was using this to milk Jack for information. Jack and the Doctor exchanged looks. She was sounding eerily like Martha Jones when she and Jack met for the first time.

"Anyway," the Doctor snapped, "you were affected by time and he was affected by you. I wouldn't even know where to begin…" He trailed off, his mind awhirl with ideas. "Unfortunately, according to your story, there is no way to do this without causing another Miracle Day situation."

"Unless?" Jack asked.

The Doctor eyed him. "Why do you think there's an 'unless'?"

"Because there always is with you."

The doctor smiled slightly and shook his head. "Not this time. I don't know how to fix this."

"But you fix everything."

"Except you." That caused a thick silence between them.

At least until it was broken by River. "Has this ever happened to anyone besides these two?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No one. And until today, I thought that you, Jack, would be the only one."

"I did too. But what's happened makes sense using this screwed up Miracle Day logic. Doc, did you even know about the chasm in the Earth?"

He shook his head. "I've only seen to the center of the Earth from the Thames."

"The Racnoss, right?" River asked.

The Doctor nodded.

"Do you think she caused all this?"

"No. All she did was facilitate the creation of Earth. I doubt she had anything to do with the Miracle. And I'm sorry Jack but I don't know if I can help your friend."

Jack licked his lips and sighed. "I didn't know what to expect. Thanks anyway." He got to his feet. "I'll settle the bill. See you around, Doc, it's been a pleasure, Miss Song…I think. Doc? Glad you're still alive."

"Oi, that's Dr. Song," she called with a laugh.

He smiled back, a slightly wistful one. Then he turned away to saunter in the direction of the good looking maître de. The moment he was out of earshot, she faced her husband. "Nothing?"

The Doctor closed his eyes. "No. I don't have any ideas. None at all."

"What happened to him?"

"He just said—"

"No, I meant, why does he look so jaded?"

"He's lived and died a thousand times, he's at least twice my age and been through so much more because he can't travel in time as much as I do."

River shook her head and smiled. "Sweetie, I always know when you're hiding something."

His lips tightened. "He wanted me to help and I didn't. People died." He swallowed.

"Is this Miracle Day too?"

"No, it was an alien invasion in 2009."

"Did he lose someone close to him?"

"His boyfriend," River gasped, "and grandson." The Doctor looked dully at the table, biting back the regret he felt at not being able to help his friend.

"Oh, Doctor," River whispered. "You couldn't have known what would happen."

He laughed harshly. "But I did. Not the details, of course, but I knew what would happen when the 456 returned."

"The 456?" River looked horrified. She knew exactly what they were though not sure why they were named. Drug addled aliens whose drug of choice was human children. They were an archeological study in and of themselves.

"Yes."

"Oh, Doctor. Well, now I understand why he's so grumpy with you."

The Doctor nodded. "I deserve it. But it was a fixed point. If it hadn't happened—if I'd stopped it—if I'd saved Ianto, Miracle Day would have gone very differently. And Rex wouldn't have become a fixed point."

"Wouldn't that have been good?"

"I know you seem to think fixed points can be rewritten but they can't! If he hadn't been created then all of time would go wibbly again."

River gave him a watery smile. "Time's always wibbly for you."

He quirked his lips. "I s'pose that's true. But not for most people."

She nodded. "I take it there's no way to fix this then?"

The Doctor shrugged, "Oh, I dunno. Jack will die eventually."

"Really? And how long will that take?"

"About five billion years."

River's eyes grew round. That was daunting, even for her. "How do you know?"

"'Cause I was there. He saved thousands, using his own body as a power conduit to generate enough energy to open the Motorway on New Earth after the planet fell to a virus leaving people trapped beneath the city for decades. Then he died."

"It's a shame." River looked mildly sad.

"No, he lived a long long life. Too long." The Doctor shook his head to clear it. "Moving on, I'm going to have to think of some brilliant excuse to explain why I can't help Rex."

"Why can't the captain take care of it? I mean, if he can't be helped then why does he think Rex can?"

"I don't know. I really don't."

"Is there even the slightest possibility to fix it?"

The Doctor sighed. "You already asked me that."

"I know, I know. I was just checking." River smiled half heartedly.

"Come on, we'd better go back to the TARDIS."

They both got to their feet and the Doctor took her hand. "Ooh, can we go a trip before we talk to them again?"

"You do like to lighten moods, don't you?"

"Indeed I do." She smiled widely. "I fancy a trip to…umm…what was that place where the walls are studded with blue sapphires that are made when lightning strikes the beach sand?"

"Fultuer-tanz." They exited the restaurant and started back toward the TARDIS.

"Ah yes. Let's go there."

"Hmm," the Doctor scrutinized her, "you want to go during a lightning storm, don't you?"

She laughed. "Is there any other time?"

"Only when there _isn't_ a lightning storm."

"Ah, but those times are so dull." She gripped his arm and leaned against him. "I don't do dull." She lifted her head to eye him. "Good thing you're not dull, sweetie."

The Doctor shivered at her word choice and gooseflesh rippled over his arms. "Yes, well anyway…Ah, here we are." The Doctor turned off and dragged River with him, not noticing that she'd dug her heels in.

"Sweetie, wrong alley."

"Oh, really?" He pulled away and went to lean against what was supposed to be the TARDIS. Then he staggered and hit the brick wall. He pushed off and spun smoothly until he regained his balance. "Okay, so next alley." He walked past his wife, refusing to meet her eyes.

But he felt her grin lighting the air behind him with its radiance.

**To be continued…**

**Review for love and cookies! I hope you liked it and thanks for reading! At least it wasn't quite four months this time.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: As per usual, I do not own Doctor Who or Torchwood.**

**I'm really tired right now so I'm hoping against hope that this doesn't come out like utter drivel. So here goes.**

**Chapter Seven**

Rex leaned against his apartment door and watched Jack start pacing the moment he let him in. "Okay so, the Doctor can't do anything so we'll just...I don't know." It was true. Rex didn't have the slightest idea of what to do now. Frankly, it all seemed like a waste of time now. Not that time was the master of him…at least, not at the moment.

"There's gotta be something else!" Jack snapped angrily, dragging the other man back from those dangerous thoughts.

He pushed off the door and blocked Jack's path. "What else could there possibly be?"

Jack dodged around the other man, saying angrily, "I don't know! I just don't know." He stopped, staring at the wall, trying to think.

But there were no answers in his long memory.

Rex watched him carefully. World War Two didn't usually seem so worried or agitated. "I just—" Jack hesitated. He looked at the other man who hastily shielded his look of concern under his CIA-designed expressionless mask. It wasn't something he'd used since his chest was ripped open in that accident but he could still pull it out. Jack didn't even seem to notice him at all so it was a wasted effort. "I thought there wasn't anything the Doctor couldn't fix. Hell," he threw up his hands, "he fixed his own death, after all."

"He didn't fix you, he didn't fix Miracle Day."

Jack focused on him and Rex was surprised to see a world weary smile cross his lips. "What's there to fix?" he asked, sounding casual and light. "I don't need to be fixed. I am, so to speak, fixed, permanently." His thoughts, however, continued. _He didn't fix the 456 and he didn't save Ianto…Damn, I've become too reliant on him, haven't I?_

"Well, now, so am I." The words hung between them in the silence.

Jack broke it after a few moments, saying, "But you don't want this, do you?"

Rex's ready answer died in his throat. From one immortal to another, there was no need to deny this thing anymore.

Jack seemed to understand this because he was suddenly across the room and just inches from Rex who fought the urge to take a step back. "Do you really want this? Seriously? Because, if I let the Doctor leave, there will be no turning back. You'll be stuck like me, forever."

"Yeah well, it's not as if I have to stay with you for eternity or anything." Rex looked away and stepped around Jack, toward the center of the room. Then he turned back, "And if you ever think of trying to get with this, I swear to God—"

The tension snappped and Jack snorted. "Don't worry about that." He looked Rex up and down then turned away and reached for the door. "It's not even remotely possible."

"Hey, what the hell does that mean?" Rex growled.

Jack turned back. "I'm not attracted to you, that's all."

"Why the hell not? Is it 'cause I'm black?"

Jack looked stunned. "What?" he cried.

"It's 'cause I'm black, isn't it?"

Jack raised his hands. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. First of all, if sex, age and species hold no sway over me, why the hell would skin color come into play?"

Rex did the best thing he could do, which was look sheepishly at the ground. He ground his teeth at the urge to ask why the man who screws anything and everything had no interest in him since he had no interest in the man either. Think of the STDs he might have…but then again, they were immortal, it wasn't like AIDS could hurt him now and—what the hell was his brain thinking about?

He seriously needed to stop thinking about how to rationalize any of this.

Jack couldn't see any of these emotions on Rex's downturned face but he could read them easily enough in Rex's clenching and unclenching hands. "Look, you're fine, attractive-wise." Jack then put his foot in his mouth and added, "I just know you."

Rex's head snapped up with such an irritated expression that Jack, immortal or not, grabbed the door knob behind him and nearly fell out into the apartment hall in his rush to get away from Rex before he was beaten to death.

That was when he nearly fell onto River and the Doctor.

"Hello," the Doctor said, looking at him.

"Hello yourself," he said. "Did you come up with something that quickly?"

"Oh no," River answered, nudging her way into the room with the Doctor closing the door behind them. "We took a couple of days on another planet to think things over. The beach is lovely in the middle of a lightning storm, by the way."

"Another planet? Couple of days?" Rex choked out.

"We do have a time machine, Rex," the Doctor replied.

"Right," he said breathily. Then he shuddered and straightened. "Did you figure something out?"

"Well…" the Doctor trailed off.

"Well," River started when it appeared her husband would be evasive on the subject. "It occurred to us that you ought to have a say in things. Do you really want us to help you find a way to become mortal more?"

The conversation he and Jack had just had echoed in the back of his mind. He couldn't bring himself to deny that the thought of living forever was appealing. And, judging by the way World War Two looked, being at least a couple hundred years old, he wouldn't mind being young and good looking like that.

On the flipside, it would suck if he fell in love with someone. He wondered if Jack had ever been in love. Not the casual things he'd talked about and not even the thing with Angelo…though that seemed rather intense but a relationship that truly made him wish he was mortal again and could live out his life with the one he loved. Then he shook his head imperceptibly. As if that nympho flirt would seriously fall in love.

"Rex?" the Doctor asked.

"I…" Rex hesitated. This was the ultimate question. Did he want to die in forty years or live for…forever? "No," he said, at last. No, I want to live."

Jack was suddenly before him, gripping his shoulders tightly. "Just to be clear...and to repeat myself, you will be like this, never aging, never staying in one place long enough for people to notice you don't age. Your friends will get old and die. lovers too. You'll always end up alone."

"Leggo, man." He jerked out of Jack's tight hold. "I know what I'm doing."

"Then I guess that's how it's got to be," the Doctor murmured. "Two, living fixed points in time. You two are going to make hell for the rest of us."

Jack glanced at him and could swear the man was fighting a delighted smile. "Whatever," he muttered darkly.

"Hey, man, don't look so down. We can drive each other nuts for the rest…of…time…" The ramifications of his refusal to try to become mortal once more struck home. "Oh, shit."

"Love, I think that's our queue to leave," River said, looking pointedly at the door while Jack and Rex looked at each other with something that looked rather like abject horror.

"Yes, I think so, River. We'll just…be off then." Together, they scuttled back to the door and exited, leaving the two immortals to stare in silence.

**The End**

**Okay, it's not really the end but all that's left is the epilogue which is a five billion year jump into the future. So, this is the end, more or less. Now please review even if you just want to tell me it sucks donkey balls.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	8. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: Believe it or not, borrowing characters from the BBC and Starz doesn't mean that I own them. **

**Epilogue**

**Some time after the year five billion…**

The Face of Boe was dying. Soon it would be time to tell the Doctor that the Master would live and meet him once again. That was so many years ago. Chronologically, it was almost five billion years ago but for him, it was more like seven billion years ago. Between being buried alive repeatedly, time travel and time loops, he'd lived millions of years over again.

His mind, at last, drifted back to Rex Matheson. Jack had outlived him. It had happened as both of them stared to evolve into the large floating head shape, a shape Jack found completely unattractive. There had come a time when they had felt the change in their ancient genetics. He and Rex had immediately realized that this metamorphosis was effectively ending their immortality. They had the option to die.

At long last.

Rex had taken it, letting go of the pure torture that had been life. Like Jack, he enjoyed and hated his life. Toward the end, he began to fall back on memories, wishing he could end this existance, once and for all. There had only been a few good years...and a lot of bad centuries. Finally, Rex was able to opt out and Jack could only think that he was a lucky bastard to be able to escape. He had to wait to impart his words on the Doctor.

He had intended to tell his once best friend about the Master in the hospital, but something told him to wait, that there was one last thing he could do.

And now he'd done it, he'd saved the people of New New York. Now he could let go. He could die and hope that the darkness he saw every time he died was only a pitstop, that there was something else.

Because, if there was, he could see everyone he'd ever known. He could find Gwen and Tosh and Owen. He could talk to Angelo and Rex and Steven.

And Ianto. Boe's eyes glazed over as he thought of the one lover he'd cared for above all the rest. That had been the strongest temptation for him when he'd felt the change in his blood. He could let go and see Ianto again, hear his voice, touch his skin, smell his cologne and freshly pressed suits, taste his lips…

But he had to wait and talk to the Doctor one last time.

The Doctor crouched beside him now with Novice Hame and Martha. Novice Hame repeated the words of legend, that the Face of Boe would impart his final words to a traveler, despite the Doctor's protests. Then, at last, he said aloud, "Know this, Timelord. _You. Are. Not. Alone."_

It occurred to him that he hadn't been alone either…at least, not for the majority of his life. He could always find Rex if he really needed to and, thanks to time travel, he could go back and talk to Rex if things got too hard. Rex had changed over the years, become more understanding of the way Jack lived.

Then he was free.

There was nothing. Everything was black, just like it looked all the other times he'd died. He reached out with arms he hadn't had for a billion years.

And then his hand was gripped by another. By a very familiar hand. "Ianto," he whispered into the dark. And then he was pulled out of it.

Into Ianto's arms.

**The End**

**Please review. And yes, I know that that is quite possibly the sappiest ending of any story I've ever written but I don't care. I hope you all enjoyed the story and thanks so much for reading all the way to the end.**

**~CheyanneChika**


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